Comments on: The Spiritual Journey

By: Anthony D. Coppedge

Anthony D. Coppedge — Thu, 19 May 2005 18:07:59 +0000

I’m with you on leaving the f-bomb connotation there, but by typing in “f— off”, it keeps the message without the expletive being there for all to stumble across.

My perspective is that as church leaders, we will have young folks hitting our sites and we should consider the balance between “keeping it real” and possibly creative the perception that we can condone it.

If a kid said that during a group Bible study session, would the leader not make a comment about “I’m glad your sharing your feelings, but in the interest of staying focused, let’s try and keep the language clean”?

Now that’s out of the way – very cool to know that GCC is allowing people to check it out at their own pace, and, in particular, that she is finding truth one step at a time.

My 2 cents,

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 19 May 2005 14:03:18 +0000

I’ll also admit I had a slight knee jerk reaction to the f-bomb. I think you made the right call leaving her thoughts as they were. As believers, we understand the concept of “love the sinner, hate the sin” (at least we should) but I think to a non-beliver, our obvious offense toward their “sin” can come across as offense toward the individual. I think too often we think of a failure to condemn something as being equivalent to condoning it. We should be in the business of removing stumbling blocks from peoples paths, not pulling them over for traffic violations.

By: Brad Hinman

Brad Hinman — Thu, 19 May 2005 11:08:11 +0000

Thanks for the post Tony. I will admit at first I was mildly offended by the language, but then I started to reflect on it. I wondered if the good Christian citizen part of me was what was offended and not the love and lead people to Jesus part of me. If we are about letting people come as they are, then how can we not expect this type of thing. Of course, we want to guide people and ourselves into a closer relationship with God and develop the character of Jesus, but I question to what degree we sensor the stories of those just starting their spiritual journey. Maybe we should just keep it real. There has to be a way to love and accept people without supporting some of their behavior. I don’t want to be religious. I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

By: Steven Dilla

Steven Dilla — Wed, 18 May 2005 23:10:23 +0000

Great post – it is incredible to read stories like that when it comes to our communities. We will definitely be in prayer for all God is doing up there!

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 18 May 2005 20:06:11 +0000

Great thoughts….but do you mind editing her language? I know what you are trying to convery, but it can be done by cutting out the f-bomb. Does it need to be a direct quote? What if she took the Lord’s name in vain? Still quote it directly? A little odd that you let that language go unchecked. I know, I know…our society accepts this or does that…but that doesn’t mean you have to.

By: Mark Waltz

Mark Waltz — Wed, 18 May 2005 03:25:06 +0000

Tony, refreshing indeed! I don’t know her name, but I’m thanking God for her search. It’s great to part of a church that offers a safe place for her and others to explore God in their journey. Thanks for the post.